Trail Blazers Blog

Live Blog: Election Night coverage of Texas’ congressional runoffs

Former Dallas state Rep. Domingo Garcia, left, and Fort Worth state Rep. Marc Veasey squared off in a debate earlier this month in Dallas.

Updated at 10:52 p.m.: And that’s a wrap of our congressional runoff coverage. Thanks for reading.

Keep your eyes peeled to dallasnews.com in the coming days for more analysis and coverage.

Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News

Alongside his wife Tonya, U.S. Congressional District 33 Democratic candidate Marc Veasey gives the thumbs up to his constituents before giving his victory speech in Victory Hall at Victory Arts Center in Fort Worth.

Updated at 10:47 p.m.: We have some final loose ends tied up now.

Here’s Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh’s final report from Garcia’s party in Oak Cliff:

Minutes after the power went out at Kessler Theater and surrounding buildings, Garcia huddled in the dark with his campaign team going over final numbers. He officially conceded soon after.

“It looks like we did not win the battle today,” Garcia said to an audibly disappointed crowd. “But we continue.”

Garcia thanked his family, campaign team and supporters. “There are too many people in here to name,” he said.

Garcia said he was proud of all he and his team accomplished, and would continue fighting.

“Domingo Garcia is not going to stop,” he said. “I know y’all are not going to stop.”

The crowd cheered, voicing its agreement.

Staff Writer Greta Kaul has the key quote from Veasey’s victory party in Fort Worth:

“Despite what the pundits said, this election was never about Dallas versus Fort Worth. It was never about African-Americans versus Hispanics,” Veasey said to cheering supporters. “This election was about making sure North Texans were represented fairly an honestly.”

And for good measure, here’s the final word from Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, who called Veasey a rising star.

“Marc is going to make Texas look good,” he said.

Updated at 10:32 p.m.: Well, the numbers are in, and it’s officially over for Domingo Garcia.

Marc Veasey is your winner, 52-48, with all but two precincts in Tarrant County reporting.

Garcia won Dallas County with 70 percent of the vote. But he couldn’t overcome the fact that turnout was about 3,500 votes bigger in Tarrant County, where Veasey won 68-32.

Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh reports that Garcia just gave a concession speech in Oak Cliff.

“It looks like we did not win the battle today but we continue,” he said.

Updated at 10:20 p.m.: The DMN’s Gromer Jeffers has called District 33 as a victory for Marc Veasey, who’s still up 54-46 with 78 percent of precincts reporting.

But there’s still a bit of intrigue left.

Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh reports that the power has gone out at Garcia’s election party at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. And Staff Writer Greta Kaul just tweeted a photo of Veasey back in front of the podium at his party in Fort Worth.

We will keep you posted.

Updated at 10:07 p.m.: AP has called the Democratic runoff in West Texas’ District 23 for state Rep. Pete Gallego, who was battling former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez.

Gallego, who’s up 53-47 with 86 percent of precincts in, will face freshman U.S. Rep. Quico Canseco in the November general election.

Updated at 9:59 p.m.: Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh reports that Garcia is now far from giving up, telling his supporters that it “might be a long night.”

Garcia came on stage for the first time tonight and told the crowd that he is trailing in the polls.

“Right now, we are behind. But we just jumped to about 46 or 47 percent,” he said to a cheering crowd. “It might be a long night.”

Garcia thanked everyone who helped him in the audience. And he told stories about people who had never voted before, but came out to vote for him today.

“This campaign is more than Domingo Garcia. This campaign is about political empowerment,” he said.

He then turned the stage back over to the jazz band.

“We’re going to keep looking at the numbers,” he said. “And we’re going to keep playing musica.”

For the record, the Election Night returns online show Veasey still leading 54-46, with 71 percent of the vote in. Garcia just tweeted the following:

New numbers: with 90% of Dallas precincts and 97% of Tarrant Co. precincts, Veasey=10,382; Garcia=9,260.

That would still put him behind 47-53.

Updated at 9:44 p.m.: Domingo Garcia, now down 54-46, appears to be close to conceding the race, according to the latest dispatch from Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh:

Upon hearing the latest numbers, Garcia said his opponent’s lead would be difficult to overcome. He congratulated Veasey and thanked his supporters.

“I’m really proud of our team and a lot of the people who came out to vote for the first time,” he said. “Dallas really came out big.”

Garcia said his opponent had a four month head start campaigning, which hurt him in tonight’s election.

“We were the underdog. We just didn’t have enough time to get our message to Tarrant County,” Garcia said. “And that was the difference.”

Garcia would have been the first Hispanic to represent North Texas in Congress. And he isn’t ruling out that possibility. His team will redouble their efforts to register voters and turn them out at the polls.

When asked if he would consider running again, Garcia said, “I never close any options.”

Garcia plans to continue to fight for social justice and be a voice for his community.

Updated at 9:31 p.m.: Veasey has just finished talking to his supporters gathered at his Election Night party in Fort Worth. Staff Writer Greta Kaul as the details:

Around 8:40, Turner handed the stage over to Veasey, who thanked supporters and volunteers, calling groundwork critical in his early vote success.

“A very critical and big part of this campaign was labor,” he said.

The crowd cheered as Veasey stepped off the podium.

If elected, Veasey said he’ll focus on health care and education — but especially jobs.

“In this economy, people are concerned about jobs, no question,” he said. “I have experience working on all those issues as a state legislator. And my previous experience with Congressman Frost certainly gave me a lot of insight.”

Updated at 9:10 p.m.: Veasey has now widened his lead to 57-43, with 35 percent of precincts reporting.

But according to Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh, Garcia’s not giving up yet.

Garcia slipped out to the lobby to look at the latest numbers. When he returned, the crowd rallied for him, chanting “Domingo! Domingo!” and yelling their support. “You got this,” one woman called from the balcony.

Garcia, who was last down 800 votes by his count, said he’s catching up to his opponent.

“We’re hopeful for a victory and the numbers are going our way,” he said. “We’ll just wait until the final numbers are in.”

The lobby and bar area of the Kessler Theater has started to get crowded. And seats are filling up inside.

Macias volunteered for the Garcia campaign. “I call all my friends,” she said in broken English and a big smile. “He’s the one we need.”

Elsewhere in the state, state Rep. Pete Gallego is leading former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, 52-48, with 62 percent of precincts reporting. In East Texas, former U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman is leading financial adviser Stephen Takach 54-46 with 43 precent in.

And my colleague Todd J. Gillman has talked to Brownsville attorney Filemon Vela, the presumptive new congressman in the new 34th District near Corpus Christi.

“We’re going to fight real hard to … help defeat this stagnant level of unemployment,” Vela said. “We’re going to fight hard to make sure that the children here in South Texas continue to have access to education.”

Updated at 9:01 p.m.: Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh tells us that Domingo Garcia is in the building, well, at his party in Oak Cliff:

Garcia slipped in the back door relatively unnoticed while the jazz band was playing. He’s making the rounds in the audience – shaking hands, hugging and patting supporters on the back.

He told the jazz band to keep on playing for now. No speech yet.

The latest polling numbers show Veasey still leading, 54-46.

And over in Fort Worth, it appears that Veasey is now talking to his supporters. We’ll let you know shortly what he’s saying.

Updated at 8:48 p.m.: I’m a little late getting to this, but AP has called the race to replace Rep. Ron Paul for state Rep. Randy Weber.

State Rep. Randy Weber of Pearland, who just won the nomination to succeed Rep. Ron Paul in Congress, attributed his win to “a lot of hard work… Our conservative background in this district struck a cord.”

We just got off the phone. He doesn’t see coasting to victory in November against former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont, though the district clearly favors Republicans.

“Lampson is a formidable campaigner. It’ll be a race that we won’t take lightly,” he said.

Updated at 8:35 p.m.: Here’s some more updates from the Election Night headquarters of Domingo Garcia and Marc Veasey.

First, Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh is with Garcia in Oak Cliff:

The lobby and bar area of the Kessler Theater is starting to get crowded. So far, about 100 people are here to show their support for Garcia.

Inside the theater, the lights have dimmed and a jazz band from Ft. Worth just started playing in front of a screen that is showing the election results. The music is loud, fast-paced and upbeat.

And for some, the Garcia election night event is a family affair. Oliva Macias, 82, is here with her two daughters and 20-year-old grandson. She has volunteered for his campaign and tonight, sports a T-shirt supporting him.

“I call all my friends,” she said with a big smile in broken English. “He’s the one we need.”

Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News

Supporters of U.S. Congressional District 33 Democratic candidate Marc Veasey mingle at his election night party in Victory Hall at Victory Arts Center in Fort Worth.

And then here’s Staff Writer Greta Kaul at Veasey’s party in Fort Worth.

Veasey’s headquarters are nearly full. When the candidate appeared at 8:15 with his wife and son, supporters raised an enthusiastic chant — “Veasey! Veasey! Veasey.”

He’ll shake some hands before he makes a speech.

“Marc Veasey comes out of the early vote with a strong 54 percent. I think he’ll hold that lead or build on it,” said Chris Turner, a former Democratic Texas House representative who is now running for the Texas House District 101 seat.

While they were in the House together, Turner said he worked with Veasey on public education and veteran’s issues. He called Veasey the best candidate to support the interests of North Texas voters.

Updated at 8:26 p.m.: AP has called the District 25 race for Roger Williams, the former Texas Secretary of State.

At the last count, he was beating tea party activist Wes Riddle, 61-39.

The DMN’s Todd J. Gillman has a brief comment from Roger Williams here.

Updated at 8:02 p.m.: Let’s check out some early numbers in the other big congressional races of the night.

In West Texas’ District 23 Democratic runoff, state Rep. Pete Gallego is up 55-45 over former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, who earned a last minute endorsement from Bill Clinton.

In Central Texas’ District 25 Republican runoff, former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams is up 61-39 over tea party activist Wes Riddle.

And in the battle for Rep. Ron Paul’s Gulf Coast seat, state Rep. Randy Weber is up 63-37 over Pearland City Council member Felicia Harris.

Updated at 7:56 p.m.: And here’s a report from Staff Writer Greta Kaul at Veasey HQ in Fort Worth:

Things are filling up at the Victory Arts Center in Forth Worth. So far, the second floor event space of the Victory Arts Center is filled with about 100 supporters, many of them union workers.

Edrick Mosely, 50, of Dallas is a union representative for UFCW Local 540. He said he supports Veasey because the candidate supports workers.

“I feel he’s going to win just from what I’ve been hearing on the TV commercials and the news,” he said.

Michael Miller, a retired teacher from northwest Fort Worth, doesn’t even live in House District 33 — but he’s pulling for the guy, he said.

“I believe in him, so I decided to come down and work for him,” he said.

In the last few weeks, Miller made phone calls and watched polls for the campaign. Tuesday, he took seniors to vote.

The first supporter to arrive at the election night party for Domingo Garcia doesn’t even live in the 33rd congressional district, so she couldn’t vote for Garcia.

Instead, Hilda Ramirez Duarte spent 60 to 80 hours this summer making phone calls on his behalf, putting up signs and taking people to the polls to vote. She believes he has the experience and background that his opponent does not have and is the best man to serve the Oak Cliff community.

“Would you go to a dentist to have a baby or would you go to an OB/GYN?” she said. “You want the expert.”

Likewise, she said Marc Veasey, a realtor, does not have the expertise to represent the district in Congress, while Garcia’s background in law and politics sets him apart. “That in itself is a big difference for me.”

Ramirez Duarte, who is in her mid-50s, lives in the 30th congressional district, but has worked as an educator in Oak Cliff for about 20 years. She is expecting a win for Garcia tonight.

“He’s going to be an underdog with the victory,” she said.

Updated at 7:46 p.m: Staff Writer Gromer Jeffers caught up with Veasey on the phone.

The leader after the early vote told Gromer he was pleased the early numbers, although he cautioned that he wanted to wait until the rest of the vote comes in before celebrating. But he said that he was pleased with his effort, either way.

“It took a lot of sacrifice from family and friends,” he said. “And I’m proud of my campaign.”

Veasey also thanked the people who voted for him.

“The level of enthusiasm in the community was amazing,” he said. “It was very humbling for me.”

Updated at 7:28 p.m.: Here’s an early report from Staff Writer Sarah Mervosh, who’s at Garcia HQ in Oak Cliff.

Only a handful of supporters have arrived at The Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. Crews are still setting up. Domingo Garcia is not here yet, but his son arrived a few minutes ago.

Two cars circled the Kessler Theater beeping and holding signs for Garcia out the window. The cars were decorated in English and Spanish slogans supporting the candidate.

Here's a look at Veasey's headquarters in Fort Worth.

Updated at 7:22 p.m.: Here’s an early report from Staff Writer Greta Kaul, who’s at Veasey HQ in Fort Worth:

Updated at 7:03 p.m.: Polls have closed, and here’s the early voting numbers in District 33.

There were 4,700 early votes in Dallas County, and Garcia leads Veasey among that bunch, 71-29. But Veasey similarly dominated Tarrant County, 70-30, where there are more votes up for grabs.

Garcia tweeted that the combined early totals that show him losing, 5,427 to 6,346. That would put him behind 46-54.

Original post at 6:45 p.m.: The polls are just about to close, so let’s get this live blog rolling.

The biggest local race this Election Night is the Democratic battle for the newly created Congressional District 33, which covers parts of Dallas and Tarrant counties.

Fort Worth state Rep. Marc Veasey and former Dallas state Rep. Domingo Garcia are vying for the spot after emerging from a crowded, 11-person primary field with 37 percent of the vote and 25 percent, respectively.

And tonight’s winner will be the huge favorite in the November general election, which means this contest is historic. By tomorrow morning, we should know if North Texas will get its first Hispanic congressman or if Fort Worth will get its first black congressman.

That includes a heated contest in San Antonio between Democrats Pete Gallego and Ciro Rodriguez, a big conservative battle in District 25 outside of Fort Worth and the race to replace longtime U.S. Rep Ron Paul on the Gulf Coast.

We’ll have lots of content throughout the night — skewing heavily toward the high-profile District 33 matchup — including expert analysis, up-to-the-minute results and dispatches from election parties in North Texas.

But in the meantime, here’s a few things I’ll be looking for in the District 33 runoff:

Dallas-Tarrant throwdown: The two District 33 candidates have, at times, downplayed the long-standing rivalry between Big D and Cowtown, but the Dallas-Fort Worth undertones have been a factor throughout. That fact was sharpened in a recent debate, when Garcia stoked the fire by saying that Fort Worth, unlike Dallas, has areas that “look like ghettos.” Tarrant County accounted for 63 percent of the primary vote, and Veasey won that group 59-17. In Dallas County, Garcia won 44-14. The candidates must protect their turf — and in Garcia’s case, improve in his home base — to pull out a victory tonight.

Early vote: Both candidates stressed the need for their supporters to vote early and not wait for Election Day. Garcia fared slightly better in primary early voting than on Election Day, although he still trailed Veasey 28-36. If the race is tight after tonight’s release of the early voting totals, then it could be a nervous evening for the front-runner, Veasey.

Mail vote: This could be the major question of tonight’s contest, in terms of whether or not Garcia can pull off the upset. Early mail votes, also known as absentee ballots, didn’t play much a factor in the primary. There were only 1,530 cast — 152 for Garcia and 838 for Veasey — and Veasey won them 55-10. But my colleague Gromer Jeffers has reported about Garcia’s efforts to maximize his mail vote count, perhaps in the range of 2,500 ballots or more. That would be more than enough to make things interesting.

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The blog for the Dallas Morning News politics team tracks Dallas Fort Worth area, Texas and national campaigns.